The record-breaking heat registered in the Iberian peninsula and parts of North Africa in late April "would have been almost impossible without climate change," according to a study published on Friday by an international group of climate scientists.
The three-day heat wave caused temperatures to exceed seasonal records by almost 20 degrees, and records for the month of April by over 6 degrees, World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global group of scientists that studies the link between extreme weather conditions and climatic disruptions, noted in the study.
A mass of hot, dry air blowing in from North Africa led to temperatures of 36.9 and 38.8 degrees respectively, the highest ever recorded for the month of April, in Portugal and Spain last week.
Across the Mediterranean in Morocco, local records were also smashed, with temperatures topping 41 degrees in some areas, while in neighbouring Algeria, they also exceeded 40 degrees.
The temperatures registered in the region were 3.5 degrees higher than they would have been without climate change, the researchers note.
WWA member Sjoukje Philip, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, warned at a presentation of the study to the press that heat waves will become increasingly frequent in the Western Mediterranean.
In Spain, the main farmers union, the COAG, has reported that an estimated 60% of farmland is currently being "asphyxiated" by the lack of rain.
The country's reservoirs, where rain water is stocked for use in the drier months, are now filled to less than 50% of capacity, and as little as 25% in areas such as Catalonia, where the situation is extremely worrying.
